Bored in Baltimore
by Velveteenbunny
Summary: An AU Fic. It has been two years since the Valentines Night where Annie met Sam on the Empire State Building. What if she had never had the opportunity to meet Sam that night? How would her life look? and would she be able to change the the wrong in order to right their lives, re live their romance and re light their magic! Sam/Annie Annie/Walter Sam/OFC
1. Chapter 1

**Bored in Baltimore**

 _ **Disclaimer- I own nothing…not even the title which my best girl thought of for me!**_

Annie Reed pushed the button for the Observation deck and mentally ushered the doors to close faster than they actually were. She had to get up to the deck. The Empire State building was set to close and as the guard had told her, they were doing no more runs tonight, it was her last chance. Annie fished around in her Mulberry hand bag for her mirror, she knew this was superfluous because the minute she stepped out onto the observation deck her blonde tresses would be blown to smithereens, leaving her plait wind battered and the stray tendrils stuck in her lipstick. She glanced at the buttons for the floors and watched the little circles light up as the elevator climbed the floors ascending upwards; it was almost pinnacle Annie thought… as well as just a huge leap of fate on her part. Would he be there when she eventually stepped out of the climbing wood panelled, mirrored box?

Her hopeful expression had caught the notice of the elevator attendant who gave Annie an expression of confusion, surely this woman couldn't be that excited to see New York at night? It wouldn't be anything she would not have seen on every canvas, or poster, printed across the world. The sound of the elevator reaching its destination brought both Annie and the attendant back to reality with the slight jolt that comes with every elevator ride. Annie bobbed up and down on her toes nervously and almost knocked the attendant over as she rushed out of the doors as they opened, seemingly more slowly than they had when she got in. Hurrying forward she pushed open the glass doors and the threatening blast of wind hit her knocking her slightly off guard. Annie paused as she righted herself with the aid of an assisting hand which had come from the ether.

"Are you ok?" asked the voice which her haunted her since overhearing it's tones on the Dr Marcia Fieldstone radio talk show that Christmas eve night, the voice belonging to the man the radio had so fondly dubbed 'Sleepless in Seattle'. Annie looked up to give assurance to the voice that she was indeed ok and here to see him, to meet him, find that voice, that male, the man who once she had locked eyes with across the road she had not been able to pull away from, when the only words uttered between them had been hello.

"Annie, Annie," Sleepless in Seattle breathed.

'He knows my name, he knows it's me' Annie's brain prattled. The wind rushed again and Annie felt her body being pulled away, 'surely the wind is not this strong' the voice felt closer yet the figure of the man was getting further away from her desperate grasp. Annie held out a hand again to regain the feeling she had just had, she felt the warmth of a reciprocating hand after a moment and smiled.

"Annie, it's time to get up."

Annie awoke with a start and looked into the eyes of her husband who was carefully waking her from her dream, 'My God it had been so real this time' Annie's mind sulked as she sat up in bed, the glaring winter light radiated into the marital bedroom.

"Good morning Hunny."

"Good morning Walter," Annie said hoping the dismayed feeling would go away quickly this morning. Annie sighed giving her husband a kiss before watching him bound off into the bathroom to take his allergy medications, and ready himself for his day selling insurance. Walter had changed his career path since marrying Annie, feeling that working together would damage their relationship in the long run. What Walter didn't know, Annie thought, was that their relationship was already broken. It was broken every night when she dreamt of a different man, it was broken everyday she day dreamed of a different life and it was broken every morning when the feeling of dismay at the sight of Walter washed over her. Annie dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her eyes, this feeling everyday was wrong she knew that, yet she had made this commitment and intended to see it through. Looking up through bleary pupils her focus landed on the framed glass movie poster of 'An Affair to Remember' and she felt anger, the movie that had once been her inspiration, now generated hatred. It took all of Annie's strength not to rip it off the wall on a daily basis and stamp all over it on the cream mohair carpet, damn the injuries that would result, she would feel better to rid some of her torment.

Annie sighed again and instead of destroying the poster, leading to Walter thinking she was doo-lally, she instead got dressed. Annie went through her morning routine of porridge, twisting her hair before catching a cab to the Baltimore Sun where she still worked as a writer.

"Morning sunshine," a female voice drawled as she walked into the grey office room, everything seemed grey to Annie except for the bright light of her dreams. Everything else was bland, colourless, boring and filled with regret.

"Morning Becky," Annie forced a smile and slammed her maroon briefcase onto the Formica desk slightly harder than she intended.

"Whoa, are you looking to create a trip to Macies?" Becky asked the discarded briefcase banged to the floor and ripped slightly as it caught on the table leg edge. Annie looked at the briefcase and shrugged.

"No just ready for another day in paradise," she responded despondently.

Becky raised an eyebrow and ran her hand through her hair, this was going to have to be confronted and dealt with, her happy, ditzy Annie had turned in a rain monster threatening to piss all over her laundry. Becky glanced at Annie's desk although it had never been an organised place often cluttered with the debris of an Evian bottle, little pot plant with flower and some paper work. It now resembled a hoarder's hovel. Old paper and to do lists cluttered the corners, old lip stains and empty tea cups sat begging to be washed, her computer had a thin layer of dust atop of it, suggesting she was not as passionate about the work as she once was.

"Ok come with me," Becky ordered forcibly grabbing Annie by the hand, by passing her own office which was decorated to the hilt with statues, baseball flags and a desk top jukebox Annie noted. Becky continued to pull Annie stomping in her own block heels, the sound of satin from her shirt as her arm continued to drag her best friend and subordinate. Becky swung Annie into the ladies room, Annie was visibly flustered but the whirlwind tour had awoken her from her sullen reverie.

"Becky! What are you doing?" She gasped as she propped herself up against the porcelain sink, inadvertently knocking over a jar of hand cream, she righted it as she steadied herself.

"What is going on Annie? I can stand so much silence as a friend but when this friend looks ready to throw herself off Niagara Falls, I decide I should step in," Becky chided, mirroring Annie on the sink next to her.

Annie looked at her best friend and could no longer hold back her feelings, they gushed from her like the aforementioned falls had burst their banks and suddenly she found herself crying with a resonation of anger.

"I've gone Becky. I don't even know myself anymore, this isn't me! I don't sob in the restrooms, throw my things around and not give a damn about my job. Nor do I fantasize about ripping posters off the wall and dancing the flamenco on it!"

"Flamenco?" Becky interjected before Annie continued.

"I've never told you what happened two years ago on Valentine's Day did I?" Annie said looking ashamed, knowing she had deliberately withheld the truth from her friend for two years out of pure embarrassment. Not only had it been Becky she had withheld the truth from, but also from a man she had married who she was certain now she was not in love with…not as she had been once.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" said Becky getting louder suddenly beginning to make some semblance of sense out of what Annie had just said. Her mind was suddenly flashing back to spending many nights listening to the Doctor Marcia Fieldstone radio show, listening for the same man her best friend had been listening for…a sort of friendly support exercise she had seen it as back then.

Annie looked Becky in the eyes and knew she had been rumbled, Becky wasn't her supervisor in this business because she had pretty curls.

"This is about the sleepless in Seattle man isn't?"

Annie went silent and looked at the floor, pushing her pump up and down and making lines on the tiles.

"Isn't it Annie?"

Annie nodded silently as the atmosphere went tense around the two women.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Seattle**

Sam Baldwin heaved the tool box out of his truck and hauled it down the pontoon which housed his motor boat and now his slightly bigger boat, one would call a mini yacht. Sam dumped the tools on the deck as he climbed down across the crevice between the dock and the Seattle water front. He gave a wry smile to himself as he felt the weight of the boat bob under his feet, he still held an inkling of guilt from winning this beauty in a game of rummy turned sevens with Jay one evening, but it was getting easier to shake off. The evening had started out with a minor bet over the super bowl…bets on the Dallas Cowboys to lose spectacularly to the Seattle Seahawks; well this is what Jay Predicted. Sam having a better grasp of football that his friend and being a Bears fan for so many years, knew the weaknesses behind the Seahawks and put his money on the Cowboys. From this the bets had escalated from minor ducats to the yacht that Jay owned which needed so many repairs. Sam often wondered how it accommodated Jays ballast as well as stay afloat, suffice to say the floating colander originally named the Destroyer now belonged to Sam.

Chuckling to himself once again at anyone naming this little lady the Destroyer, Sam tightened the nut on the starboard side of the boat with a flourish. There had been some debate between himself and his son Jonah Baldwin about what the two bachelors should call their new acquisition. Sam airing of the side of his once lovely wife's name of the Maggie two his previous boat being called the Maggie. Jonah saying they already had one mom boat, said this one should be called the Peter Parker, Spiderman being big in Jonah's life at the moment as an avid game playing ten year old. Therefore the boat had remained nameless and the word Destroyer firmly white washed until a suitable name could be settled upon.

Although most would laugh at Jay for owning a boat in a city where it rains nine months of the year, Sam was not one of them. He and Jonah would go out on their little boat as much as possible in the summer months, fishing off the side, jump into the water below…never forgetting to leave the ladder down… and sail to different areas of the city. Once the boy-some twosome had thought they had sailed so far they had ended up almost at the other side of the bay, only to find themselves at the next beach, they had been new to the city at this point. But now with the 'Non Destroyer' they could go out in the winter months and be undercover, cook what they fished and generally have a male bonding experience complete with Budweiser's for Sam, and a weak version for Jonah which was mostly lemonade.

Sam sat back on his heels and tipped himself into a sitting position on the deck. Today was another beautiful summer's day on the Seattle dock. Jonah was in school but Sam decided they could try out the boat again this evening, even if just to eat dinner out here. Reflecting on his life the last three years, the loss of his wife which had led him to believe he would never find 'another one' like her, to Victoria the woman with the Albatross laugh…Jonah had been right on that one, to Annie the woman that never was…to Diane the lady he was seeing on and off now.

As the sun burned on his tanned skin Sam pushed his dark curls away from his face as he felt his head begin to sweat, his thoughts turned back to Annie again. Sam had been so angry with fear that he would lose his son the night he had found out the eight year old had journeyed to New York using a ticket bought by his best friend Jessica. Sam knew exactly where Jonah had headed to because of the letter he had received from Annie Reed after his stint on the radio waves as Sleepless in Seattle. Annie Reed had asked him to meet her on the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's day and Jonah, having a feeling about this woman, had gone alone to meet her. Sam had found his son after an anxious cab ride from JFK, propped up against a telescope his head down against the battering wind. Sam had almost screamed his son's name when he saw him, he could not lose the only other member of his small family the way he had lost Maggie.

Jonah had hugged his dad solidly relieved to see him, but had then expressed his disappointment that Annie had never come to meet them. Sam too had been intrigued into the kind of woman who wanted to meet a man from the radio, and who had broken her way into his son's heart and mind. Yet he was left with no resolution as he had never met Annie from Baltimore that night. In his mind on days like these when he was alone with his thoughts without the demands for more fries, or a new video game, he could almost imagine Annie and in his thoughts she would always look like the Airport Hello woman.

 **Later that day…**

"Dad if we go to Walmart can I get a new movie?" Jonah asked staring out the window in Sam's Dodge as the two neared the turn off to the Walmart they often went to for their grocery shopping. Sam took the hint and with a wry smile turned into the parking lot of the shop, Jonah gave him the same wry smile back as he pulled into a space close to the front door, it was rather quiet for a Friday after school had let out. Jonah happily hopped out of the car and scuffing his Nikes slightly, he grabbed a cart.

"Are we getting lots of new movies Jonah?" he asked with a laugh as he scrubbed the boys head with his knuckle.

"Being prepared dad," Jonah quipped jumping to attention and pulling a salute.

"Of course, of course," Sam drawled and pushed the cart up the curb towards the flowers and newspaper stand. In doing so he scanned his eyes over the usual Seattle magazine to see what the latest headline is 'Woman gives birth to quadruplets at the age of 55', Sam raised his eyebrows at this and gave the woman a silent hail of good luck.

"Hey Jonah," he shouted to the boy who had run on ahead desperate to get to the video game and movie section.

"Yeh Dad?" he shouted back his eyes desperately pleading for his dad to be quick in whatever headline he wanted to 'inform' him about today.

"There's a boat race and show at the forum to race from the Elliot Bay in a month… it says all boats." Sam was getting into his stride with an idea forming, Jonah sighed knowing this would not be resolved quickly his dad was full of 'great ideas' being an architect.

"There's prize money of $1000 dollars if you win the race, and you get to show your boat at the arena the week before. Hey, sounds like there's lots of boat enthusiasts and stalls there…Jonah I think we could do this!"

"With the Holey Dick?" Jonah asked plainly.

Same gave him an appalled look "The Holey what?"

"Like the Moby Dick dad except ours is full of holes without the help of a whale," Jonah said seriously "We're studying it in school, hey," he mused "was I named after a whale?"

"Oh...Erm no ," Sam said his heart calming down slightly, thanking God silently his son hadn't been looking at some stuff in his video collection that were mostly certainly not Spiderman videos.

Sam made his way around the store pondering on his idea. He could get the boat ready, it would be a push no doubt about it, but with Jonah's school ending in a week and him taking some vacation time from designing Mrs Freer's granny apartment he might be able to do this…and win. Was that too much to hope he wondered. Tossing shrimp and lobster into his cart with ears of corn and large potatoes, thinking he may do a barbeque to eat on the boat tonight to celebrate, he ran into Jonah hanging around the romantic cinema section.

"What you got there Mr?" Sam asked taking the Video box from Jonah's hand…"Ghostbusters…alright!" Sam said sounding like a school boy and throwing the movie into the cart. As he stood up slightly his eyes fell on a cassette box with a picture of couple embracing. Cary Grant with his oil slicked hair, his arms around the red headed Deborah Kerr; the loopy title of An Affair to remember held him transfixed. Jonah already losing interest had gone over to look at the new Tomb Raider game, but Sam remained looking at the couple. Before he could stop himself that cassette was also tossed into the cart and buried under the corn out of sight of Jonah, he didn't want his son to bring up the Annie thing again with him.

As the man and boy left the store, An affair to remember surreptitiously buried under the frozen shrimp in the brown paper bag, a rain storm hit and began to drown Sam and Jonah forcing them to make the final dash to the Dodge a run.

"Ruin's my grilling plans," Sam grumbled as he slammed the door shut and shook the rain off his hair.

"0.7 inches this month dad," Jonah reminded him. Jonah was obsessed with the rain fall level in Seattle ever since his best friend Jessica had challenged him to a science experiment measuring rain fall, the prize being a dollar. Sam often thought the dollar was really not worth the reminders he got on a frequent basis about rainfall level.

"No Kidding," Sam said spinning the car and heading towards the homestead knowing full well he was going home to an evening of Ghost Busters, when all his brain wanted was for him to watch the hidden movie in the bag so he could allow himself those few moments of being Annie centric.

"You ok dad?" Jonah asked also ruffling his curtain like hair out of his face and wiping his hands on his blue jeans, he snuggled down further in his Seahawks jacket.

"Yes Jonah, yes I'm fine," Sam replied and turned the car into the home driveway.

As they struggled with the paper bags in the rain Sam looked again at his boat bobbing on the water, he was going to enter this race and show and if he didn't win well he would give it a God damn good try. As he closed the front door he couldn't help but wonder if the desperation to win this race wasn't something to do with keeping his mind distracted from a woman he had never and would probably never meet again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Annie Reed haplessly bashed around her kitchen as if everything in that room were the enemy. Everything in this area affronted her, utensils filled her with rage, the lettuce she was currently chopping irritated her and she threw the knife into the sink with reckless abandon. As for the walls they angered her the most, the pink she once saw as feminine reminded her of hospital waiting rooms and she hated it. She reflected on her day after finally telling Becky the truth about Valentines night. She considered again how she had made it as far as the Empire State Building and how her hands had been firmly gripped around the door handle when the cry of 'Annie' had stopped her.

Annie had swung around to witness Walter rushing across the streets of Manhatta narrowly avoiding being clipped on the side by taxi cabs, his arms outstretched, his breathing a hacking rasp with his allergies. Annie had looked at the man and felt an almost wretchedness for what she had said to him in the Rainbow Room, standing still she knew she had to hear him out this one last time.

"Annie, I can't. I thought I could but I just can't," he had gasped grabbing a hold of her coat as her caught up to his ex-fiancé.

"Walter did you run here?" Annie asked startled by his sweaty appearance up close.

"Well you know how it is to get a cab on a Saturday night…" Walter faded off as he spotted the yellow vehicles lined up on the side walk ready for hailing.

Annie despite herself had uttered a small laugh, "What can't you do Walter?"

"Let you go."

Annie knew in that moment she had to give this man who had devoted so much time to her a chance, a real chance. She had, with great difficulty, pushed aside the dream of the man atop of the building above her with his soulful eyes and kind face.

She had reached out and had taken the hand outstretched towards her.

"Walter I'm sorry," she had mumbled feeling ashamed because it sounded like a lie in her head. Annie had watched as Walter had crumpled at her feet with his face buried into the hem of her dress, never had she seen such emotion from the man. 'God bless him' she thought 'he would have forgiven her anything'.

The couple had been married later that year and had had a June in the garden as suggested by her father. Harold her brother had been in attendance but firmly insisted that he wore his bee catchers hat because as he had reminded them for the umpteenth hundredth time, he was allergic to every type of bee. Walter had worn a morning suit, she her mother's dress…no strawberries were in attendance due to Walter's allergies and he had ensured he had taken a regulated dose of allergy medication. The day had gone off without a hitch.

Yet here she now was actively hating the existence she should have been in bliss with. Now she spent her days always wondering about the man she potentially had left on top of the Empire State building.

Annie realised then she had set out two place settings for the both of them even though Walter had called her and said he had had to go out of town on insurance business. Vitality insurance had opened a new office in Tampa and Walter had been called down at short notice to oversee the running of the new staff… their current office manager had been hospitalised due to a jet ski accident.

"I hope he had insurance," Walter had joked badly before hanging up the line.

Annie in response to this flashback reached over to the phone and pushed in Becky's number. Becky answered on the third chime.

"Hey Beck, do you want to come over for dinner?" she asked leaving the extra plate on the side and hoping to add an extra glass to it.

"Yes sure, Rick is helping his mother install a spice rack, I told him it was a bad idea to buy a woman who has one jar of mixed herbs to her name a whole rack for it," Becky grumbled down the phone. "Let me grab my purse and I'll see you in ten."

"Bring a bottle," Annie yelled as Becky crashed the receiver down at the other end.

An hour later the two women were strewn across the sofa; salad's still intact discarded on the dining table. Instead one bottle of wine had been consumed and empty take out cartons Becky had naughtily grabbed at Chopstick House on her way over were being picked at, more so by Annie than Becky who could not resist Chinese chicken curry.

"Where's Walter tonight?" Becky asked as they cracked open their second bottle of wine a red to their previous white.

"Tampa," Annie answered quickly desperate to avoid the subject of Walter after the story she had been forced to tell Becky earlier that day. Becky sat back against the sofa and curled her legs up under her, sipping the Shiraz from her glass she fixed Annie with a look.

"So are you in love with Mr Seattle?"

Annie brushed her oversized sweater down and looking at her wine glass, suddenly the liquid had lost its appeal and instead she just felt a bit queasy.

"No, no I love Walter, I do…I," Annie began to sob. It was as if she had held back the emotion of how she had been really feeling for months and now it was all coming out in her Chow Mein.

"I assume those are tears of joy Annie?" Becky said firmly, "I mean if I offered to help you bury Walter right now, like you would my Rick you would say of course not."

Annie was without response, she was lost with the sobbing and unable to hold back the river of tears as they sploshed into her wine.

"Oh come on Annie you're watering down the produce," Becky pulled Annie into a tight hug and rocked her slightly. Becky let her friend calm down before urging her to continue.

"I've been thinking about Sam," she had finally dared to give him his Christian name and put it out in the ether, "a lot recently…in fact I can't stop." Annie continued taking a breath "I feel like ever since I chose Walter than night I've been miserable. I could tell you something ethereal like our souls no longer match Becky, or I've been a shell or a ghost but I've just felt so wrong." Annie sighed and dropped her feet to the floor and curled the carpet under her toes.

"I just don't want to be with Walter any more, I want a different life… the life I think I was meant to have. I know it sounds selfish and like I'm a huge cop out but I'm selfish enough to admit I want the feeling I had that night I heard his voice on the radio…God damn you Dr Marcia Fieldstone and your sugary vocal problem page," Annie slapped her thighs in irritation on the last sentence.

"Quadruplets!" Becky yelled after she had let this bombshell of Annie's sink in.

"Becky I was hoping for something a bit more helpful than 'get pregnant' that'll fix things," Annie laughed despite herself rubbing her hands through her hair self-consciously, and then realising she had Chinese sauce on her fingers suddenly stopped.

"No no no no no no," Becky stood up and began to rifle urgently in her purse fishing about in its depths. Annie watched as her best friend pulled out a computer printout and shoved it at her face. Annie took the offending piece of paper and scanned her eyes over it.

"Fifty five year old woman gives birth to quadruplets…I still don't think that is the way forward for me Becky."

"Read where the poor woman lives Annie…read it!" Becky said the excitement of a little girl was becoming apparent in her voice, it seemed even Becky enjoyed the chase.

"Shirley mother of the four babies has now been allowed to leave hospital and has returned to her two bedroomed apartment in the Elliot Bay Towers Seattle. I really hope he's not the father of these babies," Annie really could not see where her friend was going with this.

"Annie I know we've had a bottle of wine but I'm in my right mind here. As your boss I order you to go to Seattle and interview this woman for the Baltimore Sun," Becky placed her hands on her hips in an attempt at being bossy and toppled slightly.

"Seattle…you want me to go back to Seattle?"

"Do I need to draw a picture Annie? I'm ordering you, get your bum out to Seattle get me my story and for Gods sake go and get your man!"


End file.
